In Defense of Faith
Rational Grounds for Theism Without Proof

Jason Stuart Ratcliff, © 2006

All human beings suffer, and are subject to the possibility of great suffering. We have physical needs that, if they are not met, we suffer hunger and its agony. Our bodies are subject to viruses, infections, cancer, malfunctioning organs, parasites and innumerable other disorders that cause pain, disability and death. We are subject to the violence of criminals and others who would do us harm. All human beings suffer, and the various possibilities for suffering--whether they are actually manifest in this life or that--are as incredible as they are numerous.

But there are, happily, rules for most kinds of suffering, rules that motivate us toward this action or that. We not only suffer, but we act; we are not passive recipients of suffering, but we also impact the world with the choices that we make, impact the world in ways that are to a high degree regulated. For this or that action, we know what to expect in reaction; and we can thus tailor our actions in a manner that will most likely create a reaction which is beneficial, rather than detrimental, to our welfare. Were we merely lost in some chaos wherein for any action there was no expected reaction that attained for most of the time, we could only despair and suffer what should come. If there were no rules for action that told us what to expect from the world in reaction, we would certainly be in a dismal state. We would suffer and be helpless to do anything about it; we would hardly have any sort of life, but would simply wander in terror of a random world and its random blows.

But happily, as I said, this is not the case. There are definite rules for this world that create a state wherein the vast majority of the sufferings either can be avoided or ought to be expected from this or that action. We know we shall hunger, but we know employment will pay us what we need to eat; and so we work. We know that failure to pay the rent will cause us to lose use of our dwellings, so we make allowances for rent money. If we break the law we can expect to go to jail; and society has organized a vast system of discouragements from breaking the law, working under the principle that we may expect hardships for undesirable actions; and so most of us obey, and tailor our action in accord with law. We know that if we do not eat wholesome foods, that if we do not exercise, that if we gain excess weight, we can expect the diseases of the body and all their anguish, and perhaps early death. There are rules to this world, and we know what to expect in return for our actions. And what the world does in reaction to us can be as pleasant and pleasurable as it can be tormenting and painful; and there are rules for what actions bring about such pleasant rewards, and exclude the painful.

But unfortunately, this is not the whole story. There are still random pains distributed throughout human life. An athlete who watches his diet, exercises like mad, cares for himself and his body as much as possible, will still sometimes develop cancer and die a young man. A safe and careful driver will nonetheless be in an accident, and become paralyzed; another person is robbed and killed by a criminal due to simple bad luck. Obviously, there is still random suffering, suffering unpredictable, that strikes at whim; and however much suffering and pleasure are regulated with a system that tells us what actions will receive what reactions from the world; yet still there are many, and tragic, exceptions to these rules; and many people, in fact vast multitudes, are stricken with pains that were altogether never a result of anything they did, any actions omitted or performed.